Stay with Me
by edwardthojs
Summary: Winry is desperately trying to keep her mind off of the Elric brothers, whom she hasn't had contact with for about six months. How is she to react when they finally show up on her doorstep, half dead? - Rated M for adult content, violence/gore and language


The sun was only just beginning to peek through the clouds on the damp spring morning when Winry Rockbell awoke to find her face pressed against a workbench.

"Ugh, my head," she mumbled groggily. She couldn't have slept for more than an hour or two, and how long she'd stayed up before that she had no idea. Had it been two days? Three? Like it even mattered. She peeled her face off of the metal surface of the workbench, sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling like absolute shit.

This was a bad habit she really needed to break. Pulling an occasional all-nighter for a rush order, sure. But staying awake for fifty to seventy hours straight for a recreational side project was hardly necessary, or good for her health. She knew that, but something was just preventing her head from hitting the pillow each night.

_"_I just haven't been tired lately_," _is what she had told Granny, but feeling as exhausted as she did right now, she knew that was a lie. So, what was it, really? Maybe . . .

_The amount of coffee I drink. That's definitely it, _she decided quickly, before having time to think too hard. _Obviously that's what it is! Why didn't I think of that before? No normal human could possibly sleep with that much caffeine in their body!_

She went with that, because that answer was much easier to accept than the truth.

The truth was, she'd come to fear sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, images of two boys with the color drained out of their eyes were all she could see. Brains blown out, bullets in their chest, eaten alive, stabbed by a woman with spears for fingers . . .

Not knowing if she'd ever see Edward again was almost too much for Winry to handle. Alphonse, she was confident, would be fine. But Edward was so reckless and impulsive. It was pure luck that he'd lived through as much as he had. His luck was going to run out eventually. . .

But she didn't allow herself to think those things, because if she were to submit to her fear, she would completely lose it, and that was something she couldn't afford to do.

She pulled the red bandana off of her head and scratched a little at her scalp. It was dry; definitely time for shower.

After dragging herself to the bathroom, she pulled the elastic band out of her ponytail, letting her long blonde hair fall to her hips. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she noticed that other than her messy hair and the red impression of a wrench in her cheek, she looked absolutely fine. Her skin was clear and practically flawless. Not a blackhead or sore to show that she had a stress in the world. Her eyes were bright and fresh – so full of light she almost looked happy. No one would know how much her thoughts were tormenting her. But that was a good thing. The last thing she wanted was to stress out Granny.

She began to brush her hair. Getting out probably a week's worth of tangles was no fun task, but she honestly didn't care enough to let it bother her. After a few minutes it was completely tangle-free and ready to be washed. She jumped into the shower and turned the water to a temperature resembling molten lava. Just the way she liked it, even if it did dry out her skin a bit. It was a stress releaser for her, like her problems were burning away.

_Here's to the 178__th__ day, _she thought to herself sadly.

_Get them out of your mind, Winry. You don't miss them. Don't cry. They'll come home eventually, alive and well. You don't miss them. It's not like they miss you. Don't fucking cry. Crying won't help anything. Just get them out of your mind._

She tilted her head back for a second to let the water splash onto her face. She wiped it out of her eyes and proceeded to shampoo her hair, scrubbing hard at the scalp. Granny said that was how she always had such long hair when she was younger; scrubbing stimulates the scalp and gets the blood flowing up there, making the hair grow faster.

After applying conditioner and luxuriating for a while, she finally turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed the fluffiest towel she could find to quickly take the excess water out of her thick hair, and then wrapped it around her naked body, feeling too lazy to get dressed.

She walked into the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of instant coffee, putting a ridiculous amount of sugar in it, as she always did. She couldn't help herself. She'd always had an insatiable sweet tooth, ever since she was a little girl.

She glanced out the window above the sink, half-heartedly hoping to see someone coming down the long, winding dirt road that lead to the Rockbell Automail shop. But, as she'd predicted, she saw nothing.

"What the hell are you doing naked in my kitchen, child?" said a tired voice behind her.

Winry jumped and did a screechy-squeak thing with her voice before turning around to see Granny Pinako standing there, with all her four feet and six inches, in pink pinstriped pajamas scowling and rubbing her eyes.

"S-sorry, Granny! I woke up early and took a shower-"

"Gee, I couldn't figure that out for myself," the old woman interrupted sarcastically.

"I, uh, just needed some time to think is all. I'll go get dressed," Winry said quickly, thoroughlyembarrassed. She held the towel over her chest and quickly walked upstairs to her room to put some clothes on.

She let the towel drop and dug through her dresser drawer, pulling out a pair of purple panties, a white tank top, and some old grey sweat pants. She would've put on her jumpsuit, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't have business today, which was good. She was so distracted lately, she'd be sure to mess something up . . .

She slipped the clothes on and opened her door, and that was when she heard the front door open, and Granny's scream.


End file.
